CELTIC have had plenty of time to make public any concerns they have for their supporters at the Old Firm game at Ibrox next month.

So I am not sure why it has taken them until now to make this an issue.

Peter Lawwell told shareholders at their AGM on Wednesday that they could decline their allocation for the Premiership fixture on Saturday December 29 if they feel it “isn’t a safe environment” for their fans.

But with the same number of police at the game and fewer Celtic fans to control, surely this should be the safest they have been at an Old Firm game for quite some time?

The police and stewards will handle their entry to the stadium and the fans will be kept apart and, at the end of the game, they will be asked to stay behind, like the Rangers supporters were at Parkhead earlier in the season.

Rangers had their allocation cut for that game and there were only 700 or 800 there.

I know there were issues outside the ground with Celtic fans, but the police will have measures in place to ensure there is no repeat at Ibrox.

I don’t know what Celtic are thinking here and why they are saying their fans won’t be safe at Ibrox. They won’t be any different from any other fans that sit in that section between the Sandy Jardine Stand and the Broomloan.

Celtic weren’t happy in the first place that they weren’t getting their usual 7000 allocation behind the goal and I don’t know if they are trying to get that changed again.

But I would have thought if there are more police looking after fewer people then they shouldn’t have any concerns over their safety. They should feel as safe as they have ever felt.

Rangers didn’t take the decision to cut Celtic’s allocation lightly and it would have been made knowing that the arrangements for all supporters getting in and out of Ibrox would need to be looked at.

So why are Celtic raising these concerns publicly now rather than at the time? I don’t think there is anything in it
at all.

There was a wee bit of a stooshie when this all came out a few months ago but if Celtic were that unhappy they could have gone to the SPFL and said, ‘We are not happy about this, so what can we do about it?’ But it is a headline from the AGM now.

Rangers knew what would happen when they cut Celtic’s allocation and that was fine with them because they were looking after their own fans for the games at Ibrox.

Back in my day, you had the whole of an end and there were 25,000 there. That was the good old days.

It is different now, though, and when you have people wanting to buy season tickets and seats for every match, you have to accommodate them as best you can.

Rangers fans who buy their season books now get the Old Firm games included and they had to look after their own supporters first and foremost. That is what every club does.

If Rangers fans can go there with 60,000 Celtic supporters around them, then why can’t Celtic fans come to Ibrox with 50,000 there? I don’t see the problem at all.

If you are a Celtic fan, you will still try and get a ticket for that game and you will want to be one of the several hundred that are at Ibrox that day.

The tickets for the away end will be like gold dust and they will feel as safe as they did when there were 7000 there.

If you are a fan, you will want to be there because it is a huge game at the end of a really important run.

Rangers had the same demand for tickets for the first derby of the season even though there was only a fraction of the tickets available and it will be the same for Celtic this time.

They have known for a couple of months what was going to happen at Ibrox for that game and I don’t think they should have any concerns for the second Old Firm fixture of the season.